Sword Art Online: A False Reality
by Godskeybladewarrior
Summary: With the beta test far behind, the VRMMORPG Sword Art Online has finally hit the shelves. Yet only 10,000 lucky players are able to get the first batch of copies. This is the tale of one of those players as he traverses the depths of the game with his friends, old and new. (Follows main plot up to floor 75. Main character is an OC. Cameo appearances from the main cast later on.)


Sword Art Online: A False Reality

Chapter 1: The First Day

**AN: I decided to take a tiny break from writing KH: Fading Light and I came up with what you see before you. I don't own the characters Tahe or Harumi, they belong to my friends. There is one thing I changed that is a tiny big deal, the time the game came online. I changed it from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Considering it is November and schools end from 3-5 depending. The reason for that is actually very spoiler filled ;)**

**Have fun and don't forget to follow/fave and review.**

November 6th, 4:11 PM

"Gosh dang it!" yelled a voice from behind a closed wooden door, the words muffled slightly.

The noise of a toilet flushing followed immediately afterwards, resulting in a few not nice words from the person behind the wooden door.

The door opened to reveal a brunette teenage boy who was flinging water off his hands, a scowl adorned his face all the while.

"Stupid toilet needs to learn when to not get clogged!"he said, slamming the door shut.

To the left of him was a water faucet and a sink along with a large mirror on the wall above the wash area.

The teen turned on the water and proceeded to wash his hands.

When done, he dried his hands and turned the water off.

He turned on his heel to walk away but a buzzing in his pocket stopped him in his tracks.

Reaching into his pant pocket, he pulled out his phone and punched in the code to unlock it.

The teen smiled slightly once he saw a new text message in his inbox.

New Text Message From: Tahe.

He clicked on the message to open it up all the way.

Tahe:

Hey Aj, something came up so I won't be able to log into SAO right when it goes live. Same goes for Harumi. I forgot to do some of my math homework so I'll be working on it for a little bit.

See ya in SAO! Oh, and I was wondering if your going to keep your beta character? Apparently we will only keep the look and not the stats, equipment or weps. I was really looking forward to being level 13 and breezing through the first 5 floors! Didn't you get to floor 8 on the last day of the beta? Anyway, just text me when you get this. Kinda bored.

(1 hour left! :D )

Recieved at 3:00 PM

Aj chuckled and rolled his eyes as he text back.

Me:

Well aren't you excited Mr. Grumpy pants! XD Thats fine, I'll wait for you guys in the Town of Beginnings. I might venture out to the Hunting Grounds and level up a bit. Sorry for not replying right away, I was driving home and then had some toilet probs. But yeah, I got to floor 8 and I actually ran into some other guy. His name started with a K...I think.

We teamed up to beat the 10th floor boss with all the other top guys but the beta shut down before we could reach its boss door.

I'll be seeing you in-game!

Sent: 4:13 PM

Seeing the time, Aj gasped in panic and immediately pocketed his phone as he ran into the living room and went to the door to his room, opening and closing it quickly.

"Shit! Its already started!"he said out loud.

He turned his head around, moving around the dimly lit room in a frantic search.

His eyes landed on the object he was searching for.

The NerveGear sat on his desk, unplugged and right beside it were his TV and laptop. Playing on the TV was a news report talking about SAO and all the stuff people had to say about the newest VRMMORPG.

Aj smirked as he turned off the TV and picked up the NerveGear.

The visor was clear but tinted ever so slightly. The helmet part was painted black with red and white lines outlining it. A custom paint job to make it stand out from all his other friends own.

Aj sat on the side of his bed and plugged in the NerveGear. Three green lights popped on when he did, notifying him that everything was good to go.

The green eyed brunette laid down on his bed, holding the NerveGear in the air with both hands on each side of the helmet like system, looking at his reflection in the visor.

A confident smirk spread onto his face as he turned the hemet to put it on.

"Lets do this."

The NerveGear fit snuggly on his head, the pillow behind the hemet added a tiny bit of elevation so that he wouldnt mess up his neck.

Arms limp at his side, all Aj had to do was initiate the dive with two simple words.

"Link start!"

...

The first thing Aj felt when he logged in was the light breeze as he stood in the central plaza, eyes closed.

Opening his eyes, Aj looked at his surroundings.

All around him were other players, guys and girls running, chatting, joking or checking out the menu of the game.

Behind him, a gurgling fountain spewed water a dozen feet in the air, player filled benches surrounded it.

Everywhere he looked there were dozens of players, many more than he ever saw in the beta. Only 10,000 copies of the game was available but only 1,000 players got to get in the beta. Those in the beta got a free digital copy of the game. Aj felt lucky to be picked out of those few; to now finally be in the final build in the game, it was unreal. The now blue eyed teen was nearly bursting with excitement. Rather than run around and re-visit the sights of the Starting City, Aj simply stood there and smiled as he watched the new players stumble around to try and figure out the game. Some where opening the menu to try and figure it out. Others had their weapons out and were flailing it around like a toy. One player was waving his sword around with his friends but when he pulled his weapon back it glowed blue and the player did a stabbing motion, his weapon coating in a lightning like effect. The players eyes widened and his smile grew wider as his friends oh'd and ah'd. The player pulled his arm in the same position to use the Stab attack.

A blur of blue and black sped past Ajs' vision, disrupting his view.

He turned just in time to see the player turn a corner and go to the Market Alley.

Aj quirked an eyebrow as he began walking fast after the player.

"Looks like someones in a hurry." he thought to himself.

Turning the corner, Aj saw the player in the middle of a conversation with a red haired man, a yellow and red bandana on his forehead.

Aj's eyes widened as he recognized the other player.

Black hair, slightly long hair, and a serious look in his eyes.

It was odd to see the other beta tester, Kirito again. The two had met on the eighth floors village, Fiben. The young man was actually suprised to see another higher level player on the eighth floor, and all on his lonesome. Most of the stronger players had gotten to Floor 10 and were held up by a particularly tough labyrinth. Apparently, Kirito was a solo player and had gotten to the front line without any help.

Aj began speeding up and opened his mouth to yell out Kirito's name but the air was knocked out of him as he was pushed to the side by a rough shove. His back hit the side of the building, causing a slight amount of pain in his spine.

He looked up to see a figure in black running full speed through the crowded market place, shoving players out of his way.

A group of players ran past Aj, chasing the figure.

"Stop! You thief!" one of them yelled.

Aj quirked an eyebrow as he got off the wall and stood in the street, watching as the group chased the supposed thief.

He crossed his arms and said out loud.

"Ah thief eh? Might be a quest..."

He then shrugged and began to run after the group.

"Then again, who knows. I ran into a few thieves during the beta. But for stealing to happen so quickly? Thats just ridiculous...Now I get why Tahe hates people."

He turned the corner and saw the group heading left, away from the initial spawn point area.

Aj ran after them, catching up to them in a few seconds.

The group was comprised of three players. Two girls and a guy, all of them adorned in white starter gear.

"So, you guys doing a quest?" asked Aj, who was waiting for the right time to speak up.

One guy turned his head to see Aj right beside him, a look of shock and surprise on his face.

"Where the fuck did you come from?!"he demanded.

"Watch your language Poinya!" reprimanded one of the girls, her black hair waving about as she sped up to get beside Aj, squeezing between him and the other player.

"Please excuse my brother." she said, blushing in emberrassment.

"He can be a bit rude at times."

Aj chuckled as they ran.

"Its fine. I deal with rude people all the time. So, are you doing a quest?"

The ravenette shook her head.

"No, the guy were after is a player."

Aj raised an eyebrow at this new information.

"Really? It hasn't even been twenty minutes into the game and people are already doing stupid stuff!" he exclaimed, shaking his head.

Poinya spoke as he moved around the black haired girl and ran to the right of Aj.

"Thats what I said when he stole from us!"

"And a few not nice things, you derp!"yelled the other girl in the group. Her hair was blonde and her eyes were an electric blue.

Poinya rolled his eyes and let out a huff.

He turned to look at Aj with a pleading look.

Aj laughed and smirked.

"Just because he curses doesn't mean you have to yell at him about it constantly. Give the guy a break, sheesh."

The blonde glared at Aj and grabbed the hilt of the sword on her belt.

"Don't tell me what to do kid! I bet your a little ten year old playing on his older brothers NerveGear! Go play some stupid kids game."

The black haired girl at Ajs left shot a look that shut the blonde up real quick.

Aj looked all around at the trio and then back at the thief who was a few feet ahead of them, shoving another player to the ground as they entered another alleyway.

"Anyways, what'd this guy steal?" he questioned.

"My money."said the black hair girl, a heated glare pinpointed at the thief.

Aj remained silent for a quick moment, thinking.

How in the world could the thief manage that? Theres no way to legitimately steal, unless you use a pickpocket and hide skill together but even then the skills would need to be quite high.

"How did that happen?" he asked, waving his hand in a downward motion to open up the game menu.

The girl shrugged.

"I didn't know until Arlene saw him with my money satchel. We chased him for about a minute until you showed up."

Aj nodded.

"By the way, whats your name?" asked Kioku.

Aj blinked a couple times, caught off guard by the sudden question.

He looked at the girl and above her head was a green diamond. After five seconds the HUD opened up to show her name. Aj smirked before he addressed her.

"Well, Kioku, my name should show up after you see me in your field of view for about five seconds."

Kioku looked down in embarrassment.

"Sorry Sora" she added emphasis on his in-game name. "I didn't know that...but thanks."

Aj patted her on the head.

"I didn't know that either. Until I looked it up in the game manual." he said, pointing at the open menu, a box of text entitled "Game Manual" was shown.

Truth was, Aj already knew from playing the beta. It was one of the first things he had learned.

Aj closed down the manual and opened up skill list, browsing through the list for anything that the thief might have used. There were no new skills added since the beta. Plus given the fact that the game just released, the likelihood of somebody having a skill already at a double digit range was next to impossible. Aj racked his brain to think of any quests that gave exp to skills but that wasn't until the fourth flour at least. Aj was brought down to Aincrad when Kioku asked a question:

"Your real name is Aj?".

Aj mentally face-palmed. He had forgotten that he didn't use his real name as his in-game name.

"I-uh, well ummm...Yeah." he stammered, rubbing his head and blushing.

Kioku giggled and turned her gaze at the thief.

Aj did the same, noticing the player was much slower than before.

Thinking quickly, Aj opened up the skill menu and selected the 'Sprint' skill and equipped it.

A small icon appeared in the bottom left corner of his vision, the icon had a running silhouette in green with after images behind it.

Aj smirked as he pulled his right arm back, inputing the motion for the skill. His feet glowed green as his arm flew forward, activating the skill.

He sprinted with a quick burst of speed, catching up to the thief in a second.

The robbers black eyes widened when he felt two hands grasp his shoulders roughly and pull him down to the stone paved ground.

Both players tumbled to the ground with a loud crash. Aj pinned the other male player onto the ground as he tried to get up. The hooded figure kept struggling until three swords were pointed at him along with angry expressions from the weapons wielders.

Aj smirked and leaned in to whisper in the thief's ear.

"I think they want their money back."he whispered, unsheathing his own One-handed Straight Sword as he pulled the thief's hood back.

"I know I would."

Aj then yanked the player off his feet and pushed him against the wall of the alley they were in.

He put his left forearm against the thief's throat, a furious look in his eyes.

"Im not really fond of thieves. So, I'll give you to the count of three to give the girl her money back, or else I'll-"

A deep and baritone voice interrupted him, the voice of the thief to be precise.

"You will do what exactly? Its not possible to harm another player with a weapon outside of a duel." It was the thief's turn to smile, his long green bangs covered his eyes as he chuckled.

"But you already knew that didn't you? Beta tester."

Aj was taken aback by the thief's words for a few moments, much to the thief's amusement which was embodied by a emotionless chuckle.

"No newbie would know how to use skills like you just did." He then looked over Ajs' shoulder at the group behind him.

"You want to tell him Poinya, or should I?"

Aj looked at the spiky haired teen from the corner of his eye.

"What the heck is he talking about?" he questioned, a confused look on his lightly tanned face.

Poinya sheathed his sword and started walking over to Aj.

"I was a beta tester just like you, except the thing is that I never got past the third floor."

Aj cocked his head to the side.

"Why's that?"

Poinya had a look of contempt and frustration on his face as he shifted through the memories.

"Player Killers. Once the higher level players got to the seventh floor, some got bored with the grinding and leveling and decided to take up a new hobby: preying on weaker players and attacking them outside of safe zones. We revived in the cathedral but we lost all our stuff. So, in order to prevent this from happening again in the full game, the four of us decided to start a guild to prevent and stop this."

Aj quirked an eyebrow.

"Four?" he asked, but then looked back at the thief and the realization dawned on him.

The green haired thief spoke, continuing where Poinya left off.

"But, in the beta Poinya had started a guild called The Dragons Wrath as a 'test' if you will. Needless to say, it failed due to petty squabbles and pointless debates along with in-fighting."

Poinya nodded and smiled.

"So, I decided rather than recruit people, we could bring the player to us. Hence the situation you are now in. We all decided to stage a fake robbery, hoping to find some players that would be caring enough to help assist us in catching the thief."

He laughed nervously as a beat of sweat rolled down the side of his face.

"I knew that most people would go to the Market Alley to buy new weapons or equipment so I bought Gontaya a black cloak and made sure everyone knew what to do...He started running and we chased after him. So, yeah."

Pounya finished with a very nervous laugh.

Aj moved his arm away from the newly named Gontaya's throat, who rubbed it as he gave the brunette a cold glare. Aj simply gave him an amused smirk and folded his arms.

"Okay, you got yourself another player. I still don't get why you did this whole scheme in the first place."

Gontaya cleared his throat before talking.

"We need good people in our guild for it to succeed. Selfless people who are willing to help out others. You fit the bill, Beta Tester."

Behind him, Arlene quirked an eyebrow.

"You up for joining us speedy?"

Aj let out a sigh as he turned to look at Kioku, Arlene and Poinya.

"Look you guys, I appreciate the offer but I have some friends who will be getting online soon."

The effects of his words were immediate as the trio looked at him with sad eyes.

Kioku looked at the ground, fiddling with her hands.

Aj gave a sad smile.

"One of them...well he isn't much of a people person. But they won't be getting on for a while now, so why don't you guys friend me and party up. Me and Poinya can teach you guys how to play. That sound cool?"

Gontaya came up from behind the teen and slapped him on the back.

He looked at Aj and smiled.

"Good enough." he said.

Aj chuckled and pressed his forefinger and middle finger together, swiping downwards to open up the menu. He scrolled down to the social option and tapped it, opening up another box with the options of: Send Friend Request, Invite to Party, Invite to Guild, Send Gift, and Delete Friend.

He invited Gontaya and the others to his party. Once they accepted, Aj and Gontaya walked to where Poinya was standing and joined the group.

"Where we going?" asked Arlene, hand on her hip as she tapped the hilt of her sword impatiently.

"How about the Hunting Fields?" suggested Aj. "The enemies out there are good for grinding experience at the first like five levels."

Poinya nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. We should be able to find a secluded area by the West Gate where there are a lot of Frenzy Boars around."

Aj began walking down the alley.

"Then lets go show these noobs how to be pros in five easy minutes!"

...

Arlene was sent flying through the air by a charging Frenzy Boar, her hair waving about as if it were a flag getting blown by hurricane force winds.

The landing only added insult to injury when Poinya burst out laughing at her mishap.

Arlene spat out chunks of dirt and grass from her mouth, glaring daggers at Poinya.

"Well why don't you give it a try Mr. Hotshot!"she yelled from across the field.

Poinya shrugged and looked at the lush green grassy field sprawled out around them. Everywhere there were dozens of players fighting Frenzy Boars or, on the rare occurrence, dueling each other.

The Frenzy Boar that attacked Arlene let out a snort as it walked further away from the two.

"Hey! Im not done with you!" said the blonde girl, pushing herself off the ground and ran at it with her One Handed Straight Sword.

"Don't follow through with an attack! Just do the motion and when your weapon glows, just like...uhhh... let go and let the system do the work for you!" Poinya said, trying to teach the girl.

Arlene clenched her teeth as she pulled her sword back, the weapon glowing a bright blue.

Time seemed to slow down as she came up from behind the monster, its HP bar showing up due to her close proximity.

Once within attack range, the system took over and Arlene performed a Horizontal Slash, depleting the Frenzy Boars' HP.

It screamed a pitiful cry and its large body shattered like glass and purple numbers appeared, showing how much virtual experience points she gained. Due to being in a party, the rest gained three fourths of the amount of experience she earned. The money of the game, col, was not shared between players.

Arlene's eyes widened in excitement and a huge smile was plastered on her face when she jumped in the air, shouting, "Woohoo I did it! In yo face Poinya!"

The tall man shook his head as he too smiled. He had been trying to show Arlene the mechanics of the game for the past ten minutes, each of her attempts ended in a normal swing that was far too slow and weak to do any damage.

Kioku was watching the duo from a hill about thirty yards away, their voices carrying over the long distance.

"You want to try again or do you feel like you got the hang of it?" asked Poinya, his pony tail swishing like an actual tail because of the strong winds of the plains.

Arlene gave him a smile, her blue eyes alight with confidence.

"I can do it."

Poinya nodded and began walking toward another Frenzy Boar.

Arlene began running toward the enemy, ready for some more of the VRMMORPG's unique combat.

Aj folded his arms as he came to stand by Kioku, his lips forming a slight frown as he watched Arlene practically sprint as fast as she could toward the monster.

"If she keeps running like that, she's going to wear herself out. In here and in the actual world."

Kioku turned her attention from the running blonde to the brunette.

"What do you mean?" she asked with a confused expression.

Aj scratched his head as he thought for a few seconds, trying to think of an easy way to explain the NerveGears affects on the body.

"Well, you see while in this world your brain is cut off from moving your arms and legs. But, when you run you use your actual lungs and if you get exhausted in here, then your body gets exhausted in the real world. So, its always good to take a breather now and then."

Kioku listened intently as Aj spoke, absorbing every word he spoke into her long term memory.

"You sure know a lot about the game and the NerveGear." she said, her purple eyes gleaming in admiration and respect.

Aj felt his cheeks get hot. Not knowing how to respond, he rubbed the back of his neck, letting out a small laugh.

"Y-Yeah, well I just know a little bit compared to some people. No big deal." he said, avoiding the girls piercing gaze.

Heavy footfalls were heard from behind the two, catching their attention as the sound got closer.

Gontaya came towards them, the sleeves of his black cloak now rolled up, showing the white long sleeve starting shirt.

"Tester, you want to show the girl how to fight or stare at her pretty face all day?" he asked, a mischievous smirk on his usually expressionless face.

Kioku clenched her fists and glared at the green haired man, her face getting red while Aj blinked in confusion.

Gontaya quirked an eyebrow, expecting a response.

Aj gulped as he looked at Gontaya

"I-I, uh...er...Yeah, lets do that." said the brunette, walking past Gontaya as Kioku hurried to follow him.

The black haired girl joined in step as they walked across the grassy plains, waving or greeting fellow players as they passed them.

After walking a couple minutes, the two reached a secluded spot far away from other players.

Aj popped his neck as he reached for the hilt of his sword and grabbed it but not pulling it out just yet.

Kioku scanned the area around them and noticed something odd.

"Theres no monsters around here Aj. What am I supposed to fight?"

Aj pulled out his sword, both hands on the one handed weapon.

"Ready your weapon kiddo." he told her, a serious expression on his face.

"Your going to be fighting me."

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of the girls face.

"W-what?! Your...your kidding right? There were dozens of those boar things a few minutes back. You could at least let me learn to fight those first!" she exclaimed, her voice on a higher octave than normal.

Aj shook his head and sent Kioku a pointed look.

"They give you experience points but not the actual experience of fighting. Their AI is basic, all they do is charge and kick back with their hind legs if a player tries sneaking up on them."

He opened up the menu and sent Kioku an invite to a duel.

"The game only gets harder from here. The monsters and bosses get tougher and more sophisticated...But what is more sophisticated than an AI?" he asked, watching Kioku as she contemplated on accepting his invitation.

Her slender white finger hovered over the accept option.

Aj answered his own question as Kioku contemplated on whether or not she should accept his invite.

"The human mind is more advanced than any AI we can create. The best way to learn to fight in this game is to learn and fight other players. Every fight you get into, you learn from it. Experience is vital in this game, learning the monsters paterns and such is key. Same can be said for any other RPG or video game."

Kioku pressed the accept invite button. Three options came up for what kind of duel would take place. Looking at the two boxes, the teen shrugged and clicked randomly. A sixty second count down timer appeared in midair, counting down the seconds till the duel began.

Aj cocked his head to the side.

"Uh, Kioku, what duel type did you pick?" he asked, trying not to sound a bit nervous.

Kioku looked up at the cloudless blue sky and thought, her chin resting on her nuckles.

"I think it was the...second box? Or was it the first? I dunno, one of those two."

Kioku shrugged and flashed a tiny smile at Aj, who had a dumbfounded look on his face.

There were three types of duels in Sword Art Online: Normal, Timed and First Strike. However, the one who is invited to the duel can set the parameters for a Normal and Timed duel. The two parameters were Full Loss Mode and Half Loss Mode. Full Loss is where the player whose HP reaches 0, loses and the one standing remains the victor. Half Loss is only when the player reaches half HP or lower, depending on the weapon or critical hit factors.

Aj let out two streams of air through his nose in annoyance.

Well thats just graciously fantastic and amazing at the same time, he thought.

Dark thoughts were clouding his mind while he drilled Kioku with a death stare.

'This is why I don't particularly like helping newbies. They never pay attention to what they're doing.'

He thought back to earlier, when he was helping teach Gontaya the basics alongside Poinya. Needless to say, Gontaya got the combat down in less than a minute. Aj let a hint of a smile to grace his lips at the memory of Poinya flipping out at Gontaya's quick learning, the green haired man simply kept an inscrutable expression on his face while his friend kept ranting on. 'Well, most of them don't pay attention anyways.'

A loud beep derailed his train of thought, sending it crashing into a wall of focusing determination when Aj looked up to see the timer at the five second mark.

4

Kioku stood a stone toss away, readying her weapon and changing her stance to mimic Aj's own.

3

Looks of determination were shared by the players.

2

Aj let out a deep breath and relaxed his tense muscles.

1

Green and purple eyes stared into one another as time stood still for a brief moment.

0

Kioku dug the heels of her feet into the ground, winding her legs up like a spring.

DUEL!

The new player came charging at Aj, her sword raised high above her head as she ran swiftly, closing the distance in a few short seconds.

Aj smirked when the girl brought her blade down to bear on him.

Rather than block the overhead swing, the beta tester moved to the side of it and in turn, allowed Kioku to follow through with her swing, causing her to nearly tumble forward with the forward momentum.

Aj let out a dry chuckle as Kioku turned around to face him, a cocky smirk on his face.

Kioku rushed at him again, this time lowering her weapon to her right side instead.

When within range, Kioku pulled her sword back and then thrust it forward, forcing Aj to jump backwards and out of the swords' reach.

Not letting up, Kioku came at Aj again, this time going for an upward 'uppercut' like movement with her sword.

Aj planted his feet on the ground, not daring to budge an inch when Kioku got to him.

He watched as she began swing her sword in an upward arch, the speed of which was slow enough for him to counter against.

Aj grasped his own sword and maneuvered it so that the flat of his blade was facing the sharp side of Kioku's. Instead of pushing the blade to the side or away from his avatar's body, Aj sent his own swords blade right behind Kiokus as it went up. Being the stronger and faster player, Aj was able to speed up Kiokus uppercut by pushing it with his own blade. However, by speeding up the swing, Aj had also pushed the sharp tip of the blade further away from himself.

Sparks flew off the two weapons as he sent Kiokus weapon flying out of her hand with a little extra push when her swing had reached its peak.

The sword flew high into the air and tumbled to the grass covered ground a few feet away. Kioku moved immediately to retrieve it but the tip of a double edged sword pressed lightly in the back of her neck.

"Rule 1: Always pay attention to your opponent, even in the event of losing your weapon. Face your enemy and move to your weapon gradually." Aj deadpanned, the tip of his sword digging deeper into the back of her neck. Her HP went down a hairs width as a result when he pulled the sword out of her neck, a tiny red cut showing where his sword had been.

Kioku wordlessly ran towards her weapon, keeping an bead on Aj in the corner of her eye.

Picking up her sword as she ran, the black haired teen spun around on her heels just in time to see Aj a few inches away, the sword in his hand glowing blue as he raised it above his shoulder.

A gasp escaped her lips when the glowing sword brightened even further and Ajs arm moved faster than her eye could track, cutting her horizontally across the surface of her stomach. A deep red gash traced where the sword had damaged her, the HP bar in the top left of her vision went from green to yellow.

Kiokus shoulders slumped in defeat and fell to her knees. Aj put his sword in its sheath that rested on his hip, a triumphant smile was spread across his lips.

Kioku sat on the ground, looking up at Aj with eyes filled with wonder.

"What in the world was that?!" she asked, astonished.

Aj chuckled, putting up his sword.

"You know your usually supposed to be mad at people for beating you in a duel. Then again, given those eyes...the opposites expected of you."

Kioku folded her arms.

"Are you insulting my eyes?"

Aj shrugged and walked over to were she sat.

"Are you going to sit there all day?" he asked in return, smiling.

Kioku crooked an eyebrow.

"I might, if you don't answer my question."

Aj rolled his eyes and moved to sit beside her.

"Looks like we'll be here all day then." he said.

Kioku let out a dramatic sigh.

"Your evil, you know that? First you beat me in my first EVER fight in this game. And then, you ignore me and sit by me."

Aj looked at her.

"Nah. You just don't get my humor."

Her cheeks became warm with frustration, their color a rosey pink.

Aj laughed at the face she gave him, the glare was more cute than menacing in his opinion.

She folded her arms when she heard his laughing.

"Fine. I guess I'll just log out and leave you alone." she said, opening up the menu but not pressing the Options tab, which led to the Log Out button and settings.

Aj immediately shut his mouth closed and looked at her with a straight face.

The girl glanced at him from the corner of her eye.

"Well?"

With a swipe of his hand, the blue eyed teen opened up his own menu.

"Come closer, I wana show you something." he told her.

Kioku slowly scooted closer to Aj, their shoulders were nearly touching.

Aj opened up the skills menu, showing the three skills he had equipped.

One-Handed Sword, Sprint, and Acrobatics.

Once those three showed up, he tapped on the One-Handed Sword Skill.

Under the skill it showed a variety of Sword Skills, or if it were another game, moves or attacks that a player can utilize.

Aj pointed at one in particular, the 'Horizontal' sword skill.

"This, is what I used on you. A sword skill. A very basic attack where the attacker does a horizontal slash on the target."

Kioku nodded in understanding.

"But...how do you did you do it?"

Aj opened his mouth to reply but the voice of another player stopped him in his tracks. Poinya, to be exact.

"Kioku! Aj!" he yelled, running at the duo, Gontaya and Arlene trailing behind him.

Kioku sprung up instantly at seeing her brother. The look on his face was one of sheer panic. Worry overtook her as she jogged toward him.

Once they met, Poinya bent over with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily.

"Poinya, whats wrong?" she asked, her heart beating rapidly with fear.

Poinya pushed off his knees, and said to his sister: "We can't log out."

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

Rather than state her disbelief out-loud, she opened up her game menu and pressed Options.

Down at the bottom of the menu was a blank bar.

Kioku put a hand over her mouth as Aj peered over her shoulder.

"Well thats just fan -frikin'-tastic." he said, startling the ravenette and making her jump.

Poinya nodded.

"It might be a glitch or a bug." he said, trying to ease the fear everyone was feeling." Fucking great one too. First day MMO probs."

Arlene twirled a strand of her hair, looking at Poinya.

"Hey, at least you can say you were there for it." she said.

Gontaya stood silently while he thought of what to do. An idea in mind, he looked to Aj and spoke.

"During the beta, did you ever run into this problem? Ever hear of anything like this before?"

Aj shook his head.

"Nope. Never heard of the log out button not existing. Sure, during the beta some buttons wouldn't show up at times but the log out button was consistent."

Gontaya made a 'hmph' sound and folded his arms.

"We've tried getting through to a GM but theres been no luck. I even tried to-"

The green haired player was cut off by the ringing of bells.

Ding, ding, a chiming noise like a bell, or perhaps a warning bell, sounded loudly, making all of them jump in surprise.

Right after, everyone was immersed in a clear column of blue light. Their vision became filled with light and blurred. The light pulsed brighter and brighter and they vanished from the Hunting Grounds.

The next thing they knew when their vision came back was the starting point, the central plaza. A large road paved with stone. Medieval streets surrounded by street-lamps and the huge palace radiating a dark light a fair distance away up ahead.

Aj looked at Kioku who had her mouth wide open, standing next to him. Then at the bustling layers of people that surrounded the two of them.

Looking at the bunch of stunningly beautiful people with a variety of equipment and different hair colors, they were no doubt other players like them. There were about a few thousand—ten thousand people here. It was likely that everyone who was logged on right now had been forcefully transported to the central plaza.

For a few seconds, everyone just looked around without a word.

Then a few mumbles and mutters could be heard here and there; it started to get louder.

"What's happening?"

"Can we log out now?"

"Can't they take care of it quickly?"

Comments like these could be heard from time to time.

As the players started to get more annoyed shouts like "Is this a joke?" and "Get the hell out here, GMs!" could be heard.

Suddenly, someone shouted louder than everyone else.

"Look! Up there, in the sky!"

Aj and the gang did so in an instant.

The sight that awaited them, would be etched in their memories forever.

The bottom surface of the second floor, two hundred feet up in the air, was checkered in red.

Arlene looked closely. She could make out that they were made up of two phrases crisscrossing each other. The word that was written in red was [Warning] and the other [System Announcement].

She shrugged and spoke to everyone.

"Must be a welcoming ceremony going on."

Poinya folded his arms.

"I hope to God they explain why we can't log out. Pisses me off… first freaking day and shit like this happens."

Gontaya gave the younger man a stern look.

"Calm yourself. Harsh words won't change anything."

Poinya rolled his eyes and looked up at the sky, his eyes widening at the spectacle before him.

From the middle of the pattern a liquid similar to blood started oozing down slowly. It came down at a rate that almost emphasized how viscid it was; but it didn't fall down, instead it started morphing into another shape.

What appeared was a three hundred foot tall man with a hooded robe draped around him.

From where the players were looking, they could easily see into the hood—there was no face. It was absolutely empty. They could clearly see the inner cloth and the green embroidery inside of the hood. It was the same inside the robe, all they could see inside the rim were shadows.

Aj recognized the robe, as did a thousand other players: it was a Game Manager, GM for short.

Other players were asking questions to each other.

"Is that a GM?"

"Why doesn't it have a face?"

Numerous whispers like these could be heard.

Then the right hand of the huge robe moved as if to silence them.

A pure white glove appeared from the folds of the long sleeve. But this sleeve, like the rest of the robe, wasn't connected to any sort of body.

Then the left arm slowly lifted upwards, too. Then with its two empty gloves spread out in front of ten thousand players, the faceless person opened his mouth—no, it felt like it did. Then a low and calm male voice resonated through the air.

'Players, I welcome you all to my world.'

'My name is Kayaba Akihiko. Right now, I am the only person who can control this world. I think that most of you have discovered the fact that the log out button has disappeared from the main menu. This is not a bug, it is all part of Sword Art Online's system.'

'Until you get to the top of this castle, you cannot log out of your own free will.'

'...also, the discontinuation or dismantling of the Nerve Gear from the outside is strictly forbidden. If these things are attempted...'

The silence of ten thousand people was overwhelming. The next words came slowly.

'The signal sensors in your Nerve Gears will emit a strong electromagnetic pulse, destroying your brain and stopping all of your basic functions.'

People in the crowd started muttering, but there was no one shouting or panicking. It was either that everyone couldn't understand it yet… that or refused to.

Kayaba started explaining, as if he knew what every single person was wondering. It wasn't hard to guess the question that plagued their minds: why?

'To be a little more specific, dislocation from an outside source of electricity for ten minutes, being cut off from the system for more than two hours, or any attempt to unlock, dismantle, or destroy the Nerve Gear. If any of these conditions are met, the brain destruction sequence will start. These conditions have been made known to the government and the public through mass-media in the outside world. On that note, there have been several cases where the relatives or friends have ignored the warnings and tried to forcefully get rid of the Nerve Gears. The result—'

The metallic voice took a short breath.

'—regretfully 213 players have already exited this game, and the real world forever.'

A long, thin scream was heard. But most of the players couldn't believe it, or refused to believe what they had been told and just stood there slack-jawed, or with a wry smile on their faces.

Aj folded his arms with a thoughtful look on his face. The expression soon turned to stone as he looked up at the game creators menacing form. "W-why...how could you..." he wondered. He looked down at his feet, the brown spiky bangs of his in-game avatar fell in front of his eyes, darkening the top portion of his face.

His mouth moved and spoke, but no words came out while he stood rigid with shock. Behind him, Arlene, Poinya and Kioku were all talking amongst themselves.

Kioku's pale face became like snow, all color drained from her face.

"213 people?"

"No way, he's just making up stuff! I-its probably just some first day scare thing. Y-yeah, t-thats it. Just a sick joke." muttered Poinya, his eyes bulging out of his head. His breathing became erratic and he slowly put his hands on the sides of his head as he began to hyperventilate.

"T-this is crazy! This is just..."he trailed off.

Gontaya placed a firm grip on the teens shoulders.

"Hush yourself Poinya! Kayaba is speaking."

Everyone turned their attention to the faceless red robe.

'Players, there is no need to worry about the bodies that you have left on the other side. As of this moment, all TV, radio, and internet media are all repeatedly reporting this situation, including the fact that there have been numerous deaths. The danger of having your Nerve Gears taken off has already all but disappeared. In a moment, using the two hours I have given, all of you will be transported to hospitals or similar institutes and be given the best treatment. So you can relax...and concentrate on beating the game.'

Murmurs and whispers of players talking amongst themselves spread like wildfire.

"Beat the game?!"

"The beta-testers only got to the tenth floor!"

"No way in hell is he serious!...right?"

Aj looked up from the ground he was looking down at, determination written clearly on his face.

"This isn't a game anymore." he spoke, loud enough for Poinya's group to hear.

The teenagers blue eyes shined like gems in the light of the setting sun, giving off an unearthly glow when Aj glared at the red robe that had seeped out of the surface of the upper floor.

Then Kayaba Akihiko started announcing silently with his monotonous voice.

'But I ask of you all to understand that Sword Art Online is no longer a simple game. It is a second reality. ...from now on, any form of revival in the game will no longer work. The moment that your HP reaches 0, your avatar will be gone forever, and at the same time—'

Kayaba paused for a brief moment.

'Your brain will be destroyed by the Nerve Gear.'

A shock filled silence spread throughout the plaza. Seeing this, Kayaba went on to try and reassure the 10,000 people within his world that they had hope to cling to.

'Players there is only one way to be freed from this game, as I have said before you must get to the top of Aincrad, the one hundredth floor and defeat the final boss that resides there. All players still alive at that time will be immediately logged out of the game. I give you all my word.'

Seeds of doubt crept into the players hearts like thieves in a starless night.

The thought of if you die in the game, you die in reality seemed just too farfetched, too unreal.

Then, the red robe that had seemed to be thinking one step ahead, its swiped its right glove and started speaking with a voice void of all emotion.

'Then I will show you evidence that this is the only reality. In your inventories there will be a gift from me. Please confirm this.'

As soon as Aj heard this, he pressed his finger and thumb together and pulled downwards. All the players did likewise and the plaza was filled with the ringing sound of the dings that came with navigating the game menu.

Aj pressed the item button on the menu that had just appeared and the item was there, at the top of his belongings list.

The items name showed in the menu was 'hand mirror'.

Aj tapped on the name and pressed the "make into object" button.

Immediately afterward there was a twinkling sound effect and a small rectangular mirror appeared.

Aj grabbed it hesitantly but nothing happened. All that it showed was the face of the avatar that he had gone through a lot of trouble to make.

Spikey brown hair, ocean blue eyes and a handsome face, the teens in-game avatars reflection, stared right back at him.

Aj cocked his head and looked at the others. They all had confused expressions on their faces.

Suddenly Aj and the avatars around him were engulfed in blue- white light. As soon that it happened, all they could see was white.

Almost 2, 3 seconds later, the surroundings reappeared just as they had been...

But with one major difference: Everyone looked different. Not only did their face change, but their height and weight too.

Exclamations of surprise and confusion came from all around Poinya's group. Ignoring the other players around him, Aj turned back to see total strangers.

The only person that looked relatively similar to their avatar was Gontaya, with his green hair put in a ponytail. His nose was more pointed and his jaw became more square. Gone were the bushy eyebrows, for they thinned out noticeably. Out of all of them, he looked the oldest. Kioku had gotten much shorter, standing a foot shorter than Gontaya. Her face looked less womanly but was still pleasant to look at. Poinya was the one with the most change. His face was less pointed and more angular, his skinny arms became more meaty and his height went down an inch. His skin tone changed from a very light complexion to a very tanned face.

Arlene's face aged a few years, showing that she was in fact a woman in her early twenties. Her eyes stayed the same electric blue and the blonde locks that once reached the middle of her back disappeared entirely, leaving hair that only went as far as the bottom part of her neck. Above her right eyebrow was a jagged scar.

All four of them recognized each other immediately.

Gontaya held the mirror in his hand, a puzzled look on his face.

"How can this be?" he wondered.

Arlene shrugged like she had no care in the world.

"Who cares? We have other stuff to deal with, given the fact that we are now trapped in a little death game..such fun."

"Well I do."answered Aj while he walked toward them.

His blue eyes became green and his once spiky hair was toned down a notch, a mix between flat and spiky hair. The teenagers height didn't change but his face certainly did.

His features became more angular, his cheekbones were more pronounced and his jawline squared out a bit more. He had tried to make his in-game avatar to resemble himself to an extent.

He folded his arms as he looked at each and every one of their faces.

"Looks like the NerveGear was able to scan our bodies and faces." he said, holding out the mirror.

Arlene held hers close to her face.

"Yikes, I even have my scar." she said, rubbing said scar.

Kioku chuckled.

"Still ugly as always." said the short ravenette.

The mirrors all disintegrated into polygons, and allowing Kayaba to speak one last time.

A few seconds later a voice, sounding almost solemn, sounded from the blood red sky.

'You will all most probably be wondering 'why.' Why am I—the creator of both the Nerve Gear and SAO, Kayaba Akihiko—doing something like this? Is this a sort of terrorist attack? Is he doing this to ransom us?'

It was then that Kayaba's voice, which had been emotionless up to now, seemed to show some signs of emotion. Suddenly the word 'empathy' passed through Ajs' mind, even though there was no way that would be true.

'None of these is the reason I am doing this. Not only that, but now for me, there is no longer a reason or a purpose in doing this. The reason is because...this situation itself was my purpose in doing this. To create and watch this world is the only reason I have created the Nerve Gear and SAO. And now, everything has been realized.'

After a short break, Kayaba's voice, now emotionless again, sounded off like a purring cat.

'...Now I have completed the tutorial for Sword Art Online. I wish you the best of luck, Players.'

The huge robe rose soundlessly, and started sinking, hood first, into the system message that covered the sky, as if melting.

Its shoulders, then its chest, then its two arms and legs merged into in the red surface, and then a final red stain spread briefly. Right afterward the system message that had covered the sky disappeared as suddenly as it appeared.

No noise was heard for a brief moment, then came the reaction of 10,000 players.

"It's a joke right...? The hell is this? It's a joke right!?"

"Stop kidding around! Let me out! Let me out of here!"

"No! You can't! I've got to meet someone soon!"

"I don't like this! I'm gonna go home! I want to go home!"

Yells. Clamors. Shouts. Curses. Begging. And screaming.

The people that had changed from game players to prisoners in a matter of minutes crouched clutching their heads, waved their arms about, grasped each other or started to swear loudly.

Yet, the group of friends that Aj had stumbled upon remained slightly calm, the only person seeming to be barely keeping it together was Poinya. His eyes were darting this way and that, hands sweaty and fingers twitching. His breathing was erratic.

Arlene was saddened at the prospect of being stuck in a game, the life she once knew had no meaning anymore. Until someone cleared the game.

Kioku was rubbing her brothers back in an attempt to soothe him.

Gontaya wore a contemplative look as he watched the other players, taking note of two young men rushing through the crowd. One had short black hair and was quite short, whereas the other had a red bandana that matched his fiery red hair, scruff was growing on his chin. The one with black hair led the bandana man through the crowd, reminding Gontaya that they too should move out.

He turned his attention back to his group of friends.

"We need to get out of here and head to the next town. These people will get their heads back on tight soon enough." he said, taking the role of the leader.

Nobody argued with his command and started walking towards the nearest exit, squeezing through the crowd the best they could.

Aj stopped mid-step, catching Kioku's attention.

She looked back to see him staring at her with a sad eyes.

"Aj? Whats wrong?" she asked.

He averted her gaze and looked down, clenching his hands.

Hearing her words, Gontaya looked back too.

"Aj, come on! We must hurry." he told him, urgency laced in his words.

Aj shook his head and looked up at them.

"I can't. I won't abandon my friends! They need me, more than you guys do."

Gontaya made a face mixed between a glare and a disappointed look.

"Aj, please stay with us. We can find them together. You don't have to go on your own."

Aj shook his head left to right and back again.

"Thank you for the offer, but I'll have to decline."

With those words, he turned around and took a step forward in the opposite direction.

"Aj!"

Aj sighed and half turned to look at the girl that called out his name.

"Please… don't go. You taught us so much..." she pleaded, her purple eyes begging for him not to go.

Aj gave her a sad smile.

"Kioku, my names not Aj. It's Sora…" he was obviously talking about his avatar name.

Arlene rolled her eyes.

"Either way, roleplayer, you with us or not?"

Everyone looked at him, awaiting his answer.

"What will it be, Beta-Tester?" asked Gontaya a final time.

"No. I'm sorry...I have to go. They really need me."

Gontaya nodded and turned, motioning with his hand for everyone else to do the same.

Arlene waved at him, a confident smirk on her pretty face.

Poinya nodded to Aj, in a way that seemed a final farewell.

Kioku stood silently for a brief moment and then gave him a large grin and waved.

He gave a small wave and began walking the other way, shouting out.

"Message me when you need help. You guys are my friends too, ya'know. I'll be seeing you guys!"

With that, Aj ran away to find his friends.

It wasn't too difficult, given the fact that they all looked how they did in the real world.

Sure enough the two of them were in a corner of the plaza, away from most players.

Kaori, or as he knew her in real life,

Harumi Kouji, was walking away with her back turned to him. Despite having her back turned he recognized her easily by her height and long dark red hair that fell down her back like a river of blood.

Beside her was Xathe, also known in real life as Tahe Teshima.

His face was turned as he talked to Kaori so that Aj could see most of the side of his face.

He had very soft features, but his eyes held a certain glow about them that seemed very… intimidating for his age. His head sported spiky black hair that reminded Aj of a porcupine and had eyes of sky-blue.

Aj sped up to catch them.

"Guuuuuys!" he yelled

Kaori turned around to find the brunette running toward her and Xathe.

"Found him." she said, a smile on her pale face.

"Where have you guys been...? I looked everywhere..." Aj wiped a hand across his forehead.

"Whew...I guess I sort of got lost though..."

"How could you have gotten lost? You were a beta tester too, you know..." Xathe questioned. The other boy smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

"Yeah, well that was two months ago. I forget stuff."

"Wait a second, what?"

Aj looked over at Kaori. "You were a beta tester too?" she asked.

"Oh. Yeeeeah..." he looked back over toward Xathe. "I sort of downloaded it illegally though...or at least, Xathe figured out how to download it for me… illegally."

"...why are you emphasizing that it was illegal?" Xathe frowned, struggling to keep his eye from twitching.

Aj gave Xathe a look that said 'shut up or I will eat you!'

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Kaori asked-shouted, turning the attention back toward Aj.

"Cause it was illegal!...Plus Xathe told me not to tell anyone!"

Kaori sighed. "Whatever. Just would have been good information to know." Now she felt left out, knowing that they had both been beta testers, and she hadn't been. She hadn't even cared about the game before Xathe and 'Sora' told her about it.

"So, what should we do now?" Aj asked, changing the subject.

Xathe seemed to think for a moment. "Let's spend the night at an inn."

Aj folded his arms.

"This place is crammed with other people, there won't be enough rooms. Plus, the price for a room will only get higher, the less rooms there are."

Kaori gave that a moment's thought.

"He's right Xathe."

Xathe let out a huff.

"Then what should we do?"

Aj unfolded his arms and gave a smirk.

"We go to the next town and level a bit along the way."

Kaori and Xathe looked at one another and shrugged, not seeing a fault.

"Simple enough…" Xathe stated, walking away from his friends.

Aj quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Sure… but it is...ya'know, a death game now. Screw the hard modes, criticals and new game plus tens. This is either kill or be killed… no extra lives or respawns."

Xathe simply nodded in response, using his cool demeanor to hide the fear he held inside his heart.

"Yeah…" he agreed, a smirk on his face. "… but I bet you died more in the beta than I did."

Aj chuckled.

"Ha! You wish!"

Xathe glared at Aj.

"You always jumped head first at the mobs on like… floor 3! I swear you died a dozen times!" he half-laughed, half-scoffed.

Aj glared back.

"You're such a hypocrite! Like you didn't do that too… plus, you always messed up on the guild-making quest by dying on the first mini-boss! That's pathetic!" he said, chuckling.

Xathe clenched his fists. "Shut up! I told you not to speak about the 'unspeakable'!"

Kaori watched the two continue to go back and forth like an old married couple, her green eyes sparkling with amusement.

They might be in a false reality, but the bonds that tied them together were no illusion.

For better or worse, they would stick together throughout it all… she would make certain of it.

Sword

Art

Online

Death Count: 213

(Three hours later…)

Poinya stood at the top of the iron fence at the north end of the starting city. Over the edge was nothing but cloud filled skies. Endless white clouds made of pixels and data.

Behind him were dozens of players gathering, in front of them all stood Arlene, Kioku and Gontaya.

Poinya spread out his arms like he were about to take flight, but instead he faced his audience.

His entire body was coated in sweat, his appendages felt like noodles.

The teen scanned each of the persons face, his eyes darting everywhere.

"They all know one thing: fear." he whispered to himself, a devilish grin on his face." I'll show them...they have nothing to fear. This is all lies and tricks. Tricks. Haha. Trix are for kids. Just for kids, no adults. " He began to laugh at the last part of his sentence, his laughter getting louder and louder while another person joined his 'congregation'.

When enough people were gathered he stopped instantly and spoke in a low rumbling voice.

"You are all...deceived. So easily tricked. Like mindless dolls for a puppeteer to use and toss away. But...b-but I... I offer you a way to cut the strings! I can give you what you want most. Heh heh heh!" A dark smile crept on his face.

"According to the structure of the Nerve Gear, if a person is cut off from the system they'll automatically regain consciousness...That, is my theory! And NOW, I will give you proof!" he screamed, his crazed eyes and the thin strands of hair falling in front of his face began to horrify the onlookers.

"Fly with me, dive into the clouds and ascend back to reality!"

He held his hand out in front of him.

"Kioku, my dear sister, do you not want to return home to mommy and daddy? To be back in the real world?"

Tears fell from the girls eyes, streaming down her face. She backed away from her brother, bumping into the chest of the tall Gontaya.

"I do, Poinya. *sniff* I really *sniff* do. But...what your asking me...I won't kill myself!"

Gontaya place both hands on her shoulders.

"Poinya, listen to yourself! You are in denial of the truth. We are trapped here, no if ands or buts. When you heard that we are in a death game, I should have realized the crack in your resolve...Your state of mind is a saddening and frightening one. Your course of action will only lead to your own demise. I cannot stop you from making this choice. I'm sorry, friend."

Poinya grinned at Gontaya.

"I am not insane! I have found the light for this dark world!" he raised his arms higher into the air, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"I can bring freedom once I have gone back to reality! I AM-"

Poinya leaned to far back as he yelled louder than ever.

He slipped and lost his balance but grabbed onto the fence as he fell.

Kioku rushed forward to get him but Gontaya grabbed onto Kioku.

"Let me go! I can save him!" she screamed in sorrow and anguish, tears pouring like water from a pitcher.

With his eyes wide, Poinya looked right at Gontaya and whispered, "Take care of her. Make my dream come true…"

Then… the player known as Poinya let go and descended to his death…

Inside the Black Iron Castle, where the Room of the Resurrected had been during the beta testing, there stood a huge metal monument that hadn't even existed during beta testing. The names of all ten thousand players were carved on its surface. In addition, a line appeared on the name of the people who were dead and it gave the time and reason of death next to it.

The first recorded death was at the very top.

Player Name: Poinya

Time: 7:16 PM

Cause: Falling in Midair

Sword

Art

Online

Death Count: 214

**AN: Thus concludes chapter 1, with the death of a character. No one is safe, trust me. Chapter 2 will be up sometime next week.**

**In the meantime check out Swords of a Feather, which features Xathe later in the timeline. Its well written and better than mine honestly.**

**The author is The Key to Darkness, a personal friend of mine and a fellow SAO fan.**

**There will hopefully be a third story that features Kaori but the author is still debating whether or not to publish the first chapter.**

**On a side note, I will try to limit the time skips the best I can. The story will also actually feature full fledged quests and will extend beyond floor 75.**

**Until next time, Readers.**


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